Science for health

Advancing Gene Therapy

21 November 2022
SQUARE Brussels and online

Gene therapy could enable patients to live without the need for ongoing treatments or the burden of daily disease management. How are we turning this promise into reality?

Join us for the latest insights from local and international experts discussing the current and future treatment modalities, how to address technical or regulatory challenges and build clinical evidence.

Thank you for making Science for health 2022 a success!

2022 Program

9:00 – 10:00 Welcome coffee and sweets

10:00 – 10:15 Welcome by MEDVIA

10:15 – 10:45 Gene therapy: current and future treatment modalities, Katherine High, AskBio

10:45 – 11:10 Clinical development and regulatory challenges, Willeke van Roon, DCRT

11:10 – 12:10 Round table: “The value of gene therapy and how to secure access for patients”, Steven Simoens (KU Leuven), Eva Schoeters (RaDiOrg), Dirk Vandermijnsbrugge (Pfizer), Ingrid Maes (Innovigate), Bart Leroy (UZ Gent), and moderated by Ann Van Gysel (MEDVIA)

12:10 – 12:35 Challenges in manufacturing, Morgan O’Brien, Janssen Pharmaceutica

12:35 – 13:45 Lunch and networking exhibitionrm

Parallel session:
Gene Restoration

13:45 – 14:10
Personalised cell therapy platform for hard-to-treat cancers
Lien Lybaert, Persomed

14:10 – 14:35
Gene therapies for neurological disorders
Monica Bennett, Novartis

Parallel session:
Gene Controlling and Silencing

13:45 – 14:10
ASO therapies in oncology
Rob MacLeod, Flamingo Therapeutics

14:10 – 14:35
Pharmacological control of therapeutic transgene expression
Sebastian Kügler, University of Göttingenaceu

14:35 – 15:20: Coffee break and networking exhibition

Plenary session: how to build a bright future for gene therapy in Belgium?

15:20 – 15:45 How can governments help? An overview of selected European cases | Filip De Weerdt, Flanders Investment and Trade

15:45 – 16:45 Round Table: “What does it take to make Belgium the center for novel treatment modalities?”, Sylvie Ponchaut (BioWin), Ann Van Gysel (Medvia), Jiri Keirsse (UCB), Jan Van der Goten (Janssen Pharmaceutica), Els Henckaerts (KU Leuven), and moderated by Ingrid Maes (Inovigate)

16:45 – 17:15 How to overcome the technical challenges we all face? | Federico Mingozzi, Spark Therapeutics

17:15 – 17:30 Closing remarks

17:30 – 19:00 Networking reception by BioWin

2022 Speakers

Katherine High

President, Therapeutics, AskBio

Monica Bennett

Head of Gene Therapy Unit, Novartis

Federico Mingozzi

Chief Scientific Officer, Spark Therapeutics, Inc.

Rob MacLeod

Chief Scientific Officer, SVP Research and Development, Flamingo Therapeutics

Sebastian Kügler

Senior researcher Neurodegeneration / LabHead Vector laboratory, Dept. of Neurology, University of Göttingen

Willeke van Roon

Professor Human Genetics, Leiden University

Morgan O' Brien

Manager, Gene Therapy Tech Transfer & Process Development, Janssen

Steven Simoens

Professor of health economics

KU Leuven

Eva Schoeters

Directeur, RaDiOrg, Rare Diseases Belgium

Ingrid Maes

Managing Director & Co-founder, Inovigate

Bart Leroy

Professor, Ghent University

Dirk Vander Mijnsbrugge

Vice President, Pfizer

Filip De Weerdt

Science and Technology Coordinator, Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) ·

Ann Van Gysel

CEO, MEDVIA

Sylvie Ponchaut

Managing director, BioWin

Jiri Keirsse

Innovation Strategy & Transformation Lead, UCB

Lien Lybaert

Coordinator of Persomed (a joint venture with LMCT-VUB, QbD, Antleron and VUB)

Els Henckaerts

Professor at KU Leuven Head of Laboratory of Viral Cell Biology and Therapeutics

Jan Van der Goten

Head of the Janssen Pharmaceutica Campus & Strategic Partnerships Benelux

About Science for health

At this yearly event, experts are connected around a central theme to promote out-of-the-box thinking and spark new research collaborations. This strengthens the local ecosystem and creates inspired solutions improving the life of patients.

Meet academics, industry leaders and policymakers — Get inspired and join forces!

2021 edition / Data Science and Personalized Medicine

Uniting Stakeholders

Science for health 2021 facilitated cross-ecosystem networking between academics, industry leaders, and policymakers. By forming connections across the ecosystem, the event has helped to enable collaborations for Data Science in Belgium and beyond.

Promoting progress

The event provided actionable insights to attendees, while acknowledging different
stakeholder needs. Through good media coverage and by fostering cooperation, this edition is accelerating progress in the vital topic of Data Science in health.

Inspiring program

Local and international speakers presented engaging talks, featuring examples of big data successfully being used to improve healthcare, as well as earnest discussions about the steps needed to enable real-world data research in the future.

2019 edition / Focus on cell therapy

On 11 September 2019, 15 (inter)national top speakers joined us in Brussels and presented on all aspects of cell therapy, from fundamental research breakthroughs to the clinical and regulatory challenges of bringing these innovations to the patient. Dr Carl June, the father of CAR T immunotherapy, opened the conference.

19 cell therapy companies and research institutes presented their work at a (free) booth, resulting in high-quality interaction with the ecosystem.

Reaching a balanced audience of 327 participants, the event was sold out over 1 month in advance

Science for health

Advancing Gene Therapy

21 November 2022
SQUARE Brussels and online

Thank you for making Science for health 2022 a success!